


Salvation

by VenezuelanWriter



Series: Let's hurt tonight [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: (kind of) team dynamics, Background Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence (briefly), Catholic Character, Daredevil S02 spoilers, Drinking & Talking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Dates, First Kiss, First Meetings, Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Matt is suffering, Minor Character Death, Post Daredevil S02, Slow Burn, Songfic, Strangers to Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-10 08:31:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11687910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenezuelanWriter/pseuds/VenezuelanWriter
Summary: Matt had pushed away everyone he cared about and his life was, in general, a giant mess.To top it off, some guy that claimed to have magic-related powers just showed up in New York—Which, no, Matt was not in the mood to deal with.What Matt didn't know, was that said guy would turn out to be his very needed salvation.





	Salvation

**Author's Note:**

> I can’t believe I’m shipping and loving this pairing before seeing Matt and Danny interact with each other. But it’s totally a thing.
> 
> I’m sorry for any Iron Fist incongruencies related to how things actually were left off on the season finale. I watched the show in March and I may have forgotten a few things (and haven’t been able to rewatch it yet, ugh).
> 
> In case you haven't read tags: this has lots of spoilers from Daredevil season 2.
> 
> Also, I have this weakness for men cooking ???? Though about the Tibetan food I only know what I found on the Internet JUST IN CASE.
> 
> This was one of my favorites to write. Experimenting with new ships and fandoms is always fun. Hope that The Defenders gives me lots of love and reasons to keep shipping them when it’s out in less than a month (yay).
> 
> Lyrics from One’s Republic “Let’s Hurt Tonight”.
> 
> Now, enjoy, please <3.

_When, when we came home, worn to the bones_

_I told myself, "this could get rough"._

 

Matt couldn’t do this now. He was still mourning Elektra. He missed her with his entire his soul. They were supposed to make it out of that rooftop and run somewhere no one could ever find them. Now she was gone.

He was trying his best to solve things with Karen. He wanted to be honest with her from there on. He knew for sure neither of them was in a place where they could handle a romantic relationship, but the last thing he wanted was her to push him away just like Foggy was doing.

Foggy, damn it, Matt owed him a lot of apologies. Or maybe not that many. Foggy also had to learn to deal with Matt’s purpose and his way to fulfill it. Maybe taking different paths was the smartest way to go, but breaking apart Nelson & Murdock, after everything they’d gone through, hurt like hell.

Anyway. He was not in the mood for this.

Someone, a young man, had walked into the building where Matt lived. This was Matt’s home, so of course he knew like the back of his hand everyone who had to do with it. And that man had never walked in there before.

His heart rate was faster than normal, but he didn’t seem to be agitated altogether.

To Matt’s surprise, the man went straight to his apartment and knocked on his door.

Matt leaned the broom against a wall, took his glasses from the kitchen counter and went to get the door. He didn’t even seem to be able to clean these days.

“Yeah, can I help you?” Matt asked with his voice low.

Now with the man this close to him, he could smell the fresh new pair of sneakers he was wearing, as well as whatever hair product he had all over his, Matt could tell, crowdy hair nest. His shirt was relatively new, too. And the jeans were the only item that appeared to be at least a few months old.

“Matthew Murdock?” The man asked. His heart rate was quieter than before and there were no signs of possible threats. For now.

“Yes. Who’s asking?”

“My name’s Daniel Rand.” He held out his hand and Matt pretended he had no idea of it.

The name rang a bell for Matt.

“From Rand Enterprises?”

The man retired his hand apologetically.

“Yes. Can I come in?”

“If this is for legal assistance, it’ll have to wait until tomorrow at 8.”

“Uhm, no. This is about your other job, _Devil of Hell’s Kitchen._ ” He added a funny tone to the last part, then scoffed. “That’s one fancy nickname, by the way.”

Matt’s blood ran cold. Instinctively, he smiled innocently.

“You really believe a blind man could be Daredevil?”

The man—Daniel Rand, apparently—threw a punch aimed at Matt’s face, that Matt gracefully eluded. Then Rand tried to blow Matt’s face from the opposite side, but that time using a methodical movement characteristic of martial arts. Matt stopped the arm still in the air, bending it towards the man’s back to push him against the wall next to the doorway.

“Well, that proves me right,” Rand said cockily.

“Who are you? ” Matt asked while twisting the arm strongly.

“I told you, my name’s Danny Rand.”

Matt paid attention to his heartbeat. He wasn’t lying. Rand’s breath shortened before speaking.

“And I don’t want to hurt you, so please let go.”

Hurt him? If this man was who he said he was, why would one seriously powerful CEO want to hurt him? Better question, how could a businessman hurt him?

“Who sent you?” Matt asked.

“No one. I came on my own.”

Again, he was telling the truth.

“Why did you come?”

“Do you really want to have this conversation like this?” Rand exasperatedly asked. “Can’t you invite me a drink, or something? If I wanted to hurt you I would’ve done it already.”

Matt took a deep breath. He’d already detected that the man, whether he was actually Daniel Rand or not, wasn’t armed. And Matt never had problems before handling un-armed, single guys.

“Then be my guest,” Matt said skeptically, releasing the man from his painful grip.

“Thank you,” Rand replied stretching his arm and wrist.

Matt closed the apartment door and followed the still-mysterious man into the living room, where said man had already confidently taken a seat.

“I’m the current Iron Fist,” Rand said like it was supposed to make any sense to Matt.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m the sworn enemy of The Hand,” he said, managing to catch Matt’s attention. “I returned from K’un Lun yesterday—we’ll have time to talk about where exactly is that later—and I need your help.”

Matt wasn’t sure of how, but Rand made a fist with his hand and it literally glowed. The heat emanating from it was considerably high and he could listen to the infinitesimal vibrations of his strength flowing through it.

Looked like he wasn’t unarmed, after all.

*

Matt stormed out of the warehouse where Danny, how he’d insisted to be called, had set the meeting for the four of them to introduce themselves.

Matt couldn’t tell what made him decide to attend the damn meeting. Probably, it’d been his desperation to find hope in this alleged team they could put-up to “defend and protect New York”.

As things were then, Matt would’ve done almost everything to fix the awful things he’d done to his city.

But Matt was there for five minutes and he had to leave.

The man with the unbreakable skin he could handle. A chick with unrealistic strength? Damn right he could deal with that, too. But when this kid, Danny, started describing his power again, this “immortal weapon named The Iron Fist” so closely related to The Hand... Matt pretty much lost it.

‘Another dimension that connects periodically with Earth’?

When Matt thought New York couldn’t get any crazier, some random man that’d spent the last 15 years of his life being trained by monks in a place supposedly named K’un Lun—and who was presumed dead, obviously—showed up to ask for his help to fight The Hand.

He had to clear his mind and run some routinary research. Find trustworthy sources to make sure that this wasn’t a really elaborate trap by The Hand or something worse that he wasn’t even aware of yet. What were those people actual intentions? Were they dangerous? Did they have a past? Was it going to be okay if Matt judged them by their pasts?

He didn’t know and he needed answers before he revealed more than his identity to those people.

As if by magic, Claire showed up at his apartment. Claire Temple, God. He’d missed her so damn much.

She’d left the hospital, he’d heard, but he never stumbled upon anything that indicated him where she could be. He’d just hoped that she was fine, wherever she’d decided to go.

Which all made sense as soon as she started talking. She’d been to different parts of New York, meeting by various and coincidental reasons the two men and one woman who were gathering to form a team with him.

It was a long talk where he spent the, give or take, two hours asking for all the details he could think of. Claire talked about the people with such respect and admiration, that Matt was convinced they deserved a second chance and a little bit of trust about the team idea.

The best part was that he didn’t spy on her heartbeats to assure it was all true. She cared about him and she wouldn’t betray him now; not after everything she’d helped him with.

If she said they were heroes, then Matt didn’t doubt that they at least fell in close to that category.

*

_2 months later._

Before Elektra died, Matt, Stick and her had found out that she was the Black Sky. With her supposedly being dead, The Hand didn’t have anything. That was until, to The Defender’s shock, they learned that Elektra had been brought back to life by Nobu and his followers.

There was a ritual involved behind people’s resurrection. They weren’t even close to understanding it, but they just knew that it involved lots of blood, a creepy giant urn and a dead person in it.

Matt had denied it to himself countless times.

 _It couldn’t be her_ , he repeated as a mantra whenever the team had confronted The Hand and he listened to a set of heartbeats he had grown an expert at detecting.

 _It couldn’t be her_ , he told himself, just after he fought a female who hid her heartbeats, but that breathed just like that woman he used to love and that so many times took those exact breaths next to his ears.

 _It was her_ , he had to admit himself and the team when she succeeded at slashing Stick’s throat open and they didn’t make in time to stop it.

“I wouldn’t spare your life twice,” she’d said before Stick’s blood completely drained his body dead.

“Elektra,” Matt whispered from two blocks over, stopping in his tracks on the rooftop of some skyscraper. He instantly lost all signs of her and whoever she must’ve been with. Because The Hand was that hard to catch, even for the four of them together.

“What?” Jessica asked.

“Stick’s dead,” he whispered, covering his mouth right after.

“Who’s Stick?” Luke asked.

Matt’s whole body was trembling beneath his leather suit. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

“Elektra just killed him. Right now.”

“We’re all lost, Matt. Who are these people?” Danny asked.

“Elektra is the Black Sky,” Matt explained. _And my ex_ , he reserved the right to say. “Stick raised us both. Oh my God—” he gasped, crossing himself. He could tell his three teammates were exchanging looks and staring at him in sympathy.

“Matt, I’m sorry,” Danny said.

“We all are,” Jessica corrected.

Matt nodded apologetically.

He shook his grieve out of his head as well as he could. His thoughts were cloudy and so was his judgment, but at least he wasn’t alone. He was with three other really capable people that would approach this situation without feelings getting in the way. He just had to take them there.

“Let’s go.”

He guided the team to the ally where it’d happened. The blood smell was far from bearable for him, coming from Stick. It was strong and disgusting and fucking painful to feel it flooding his nose, with such determination like he would never be able to forget how death tasted.

He couldn’t handle standing there, in front of Stick’s slaughtered body.

“Excuse me,” he said, turning around to leave quick and unnoticed.

Just like Stick had taught him.

*

_And when, when I was off, which happened a lot,_

_You came to me and said, "that's enough"._

 

Matt laid on his bed, facing the ceiling. He had his eyes closed, shutting off the constant flames he usually saw.

Danny knocked on his door for the third time and Matt heard him sigh as if he was giving up on something.

“You know what? I don’t need you to open the door. If you’re in there, then you’re listening,” Danny said. “ Luke and Jess are worried about you. And me too, obviously. I’ve just come to tell you that. I brought you a meal and cookies. Although you probably already know that. I hope you like Mexican food.”

Matt sighed and sat on his bed.

“You have to let people in, Matt. You have to let _us_ in. We want to be your friends.”

Matt stood up and walked to his door. He didn’t remember to get his glasses; by then, he didn’t care about wearing them around Danny or their two others teammates.

When Matt swung the door open, slowly and carefully like it might break if he pulled it any harder, Danny grinned widely.

And although Matt couldn’t see his smile, he knew it was bright and honest.

“It was the cookies, right?” Danny asked.

Matt snorted.

“Listen, man,” Danny said, gravely. “I’m really sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” Matt replied, hoping Danny realized how much he meant it. “But I can’t talk right now, Danny. You don’t understand.”

Danny made a little sound, something between a _yeah_ and a _mmhm_.

“I kind of expected you to say that,” Danny said.

“Elektra and I—we have history together.” Matt leaned on his doorway and held his head up. “And she’s the Black Sky now. I’d already saved Stick from her once. Now he’s gone for good.”

“Since when did you know she’s the Black Sky?” Danny asked, letting show his minor indignation.

“Since yesterday,” Matt answered. “I wouldn’t have kept it from you. Before yesterday I’d suspected it, but I wasn’t sure. Not until I listened to her voice.”

“I see,” Danny quietly said.

“I don’t think it’s very helpful to know her identity, though. She’s not the Elektra I knew. She’s obviously being manipulated by The Hand.”

Danny’s eyebrows lifted.

“Shit.”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna talk about that.”

Danny awkwardly stood there for a moment longer. Then he took a step forward, which had Matt unsurely leaning back on his feet before Danny hugged him.

Matt pursed his lips together, partly thanking the embrace and human contact, but also disliking the moment of realization of how distant he’d been of everyone else in his life. He couldn’t even remember the last hug he’d received.

The hug was over quickly and none of them said anything else for what felt like an eternity.

Matt had been caught by surprise—even when he’d smelled Danny going there from a block away—and he had nothing more to add. He didn’t blame Danny for being speechless, either.

“I’ll get going now,” Danny said, shifting on his feet. “Like I said, hope you like Mexican food.”

He handed Matt two paper bags and Matt nodded, smiling poorly.

Danny had already turned around to leave, but Matt still stood there in his doorway and felt the need to say something.

“Hey, Danny.” Danny turned back to Matt. “Thank you for the food. And for coming.”

Danny smiled and continued to walk out. It wasn’t until he almost left the building that he whispered,

“Anytime, Matt. Anytime.”

*

It’d been three days since Stick’s death.

Matt hadn’t left his apartment, and if it weren’t for the tamales and cookies that Danny took him, he wouldn’t have had anything more wholesome than a butter sandwich. He couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed to turn on the heater—much less he would be capable of standing in his kitchen for longer than five minutes.

He’d appreciated Danny’s visit. Maybe more than he had to. But he knew it was also logical. He hadn’t heard from Foggy or Karen in more than a month, who were probably the only people that not too long ago would have been there for him in this circumstance.

Karen was God knows where, probably helping Castle somehow, and Foggy was in a job that consumed more of the time that he had, but that at least allowed him to save some money.

Matt’s cell phone was on the living room couch, ringing.

_“Danny Rand. Danny Rand. Danny Rand.”_

He let it go to the voicemail, but then questioned if it had been a good decision. Neither he nor Luke or Jessica had called him before, and they’d totally been respectful of his privacy. Maybe if they were calling, it was an emergency.

Matt, with difficulty and heaviness, moved out of his bed and reached for his phone at the living room.

Danny had left a message, so Matt played it.

“We all understand that you’re in grief. But we need you. You’re our walking-talking, remember? And our personal polygraph.” Danny snorted. There were some seconds of silence in the line. “And to honor Stick’s memory, you should do all you can to stop those who took his life.”

A short beep indicated the end of the message.

Matt knew Danny was right. No one would benefit from his misery. As much as he’d needed to be alone and process the whole mess his life was at the moment, maybe three days had been enough of that.

He was way more helpful in the field, along with his teammates and friends, actively working on defeating The Hand. They had to pay for what they’d turned Elektra into, and they also had to pay for all the innocents that had gotten in the way of that.

*

Luke, Jessica, Danny, and Matt were having breakfast at a diner. They hadn’t slept in all night since they’d been following an endless and useless track of one of Nobu’s ninjas. They ended up tired and hungry (but at least they weren’t hurt, which they could consider a milestone).

Jessica and Luke excused themselves, apparently needing to have a conversation that had had them throwing hints at the other since the last ten hours.

“I’ve been thinking about what you told me,” Matt commented since it was just him and Danny.

“Hm?” Danny asked through his mouthful of pancakes.

“You’re right, I need someone to open up with,” Matt said. He took a sip from his orange juice and waited for an answer.

“What, are you asking me?” Danny asked surprisedly, once that Matt didn’t say anything else.

Matt frowned. Hadn’t Danny said that they were there for him, that _he_ was there—

“Don’t misunderstand me,” Danny said, interrupting Matt from jumping to any conclusion. “I just thought you’d rather talk to Jessica over me.”

“Why would you think so?” Matt asked, absolutely intrigued.

Danny shrugged.

“First of all, women are better at feelings,” he explained.

Matt huffed.

“Do you think _she’s_ good at feelings?” He asked wittily.

“C’mon, don’t be mean. Plus, I feel like you two are totally compatible, that’s all.”

“Yeah?” Matt asked, before taking a bite of his glorious cheese and bacon sandwich.

“Yeah, I mean you two share your sense of humor and you’re always laughing at her jokes of your blindness.”

“She has good jokes,” Matt stated. He realized Danny wasn’t planning on saying anything else, so he continued. “It’s not about that. I like all three of you. But she and Luke have their own chemistry and I wouldn’t like to get in the middle of that.”

“I guess it’s logical,” Danny replied, after swallowing his food. “I mean they totally have a past together.”

“I thought it was just my impression,” Matt said. He listened to Luke’s footsteps heading back to the table and without much effort, he then listened to Jessica’s light ones following shortly behind. “So, if we don’t have to go out to work tonight,” he said, leaving clear what he meant by ‘work’, “bring pizza to my place. I’ll buy the beers.”

Danny almost sang out his answer, happy like a child on Christmas’ Eve.

“Sure thing, Double D.”

Matt shook his head, giggling slightly.

“Stick to Matt, please.”

An old woman, waitress from the local, approached their table.

“Would you like coffee, gentlemen?” She asked with the coffee jar in hand.

Matt looked up and she immediately took a step back, probably at the notice of his glasses.

“I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Don’t be so careful, ma'am,” Jessica said, returning along Luke to their previous seats. “This man right here, he’s better than me at choosing what chick is hotter when we go partying.”

The woman’s expression Matt could tell was priceless and definitely hilarious. Even Luke, who sometimes seemed to lack any kind of humor, laughed at her ‘Young people nowadays’ reaction.

“Yes, a black coffee, please,” Matt finally answered, fighting back a laugh.

*

_Oh, I know that this love is pain,_

_But we can't cut it from out these veins, no._

 

That night, Matt knew Danny was coming since he listened to him ordering their pizzas a block away from Matt’s apartment.

Matt had two six packs of beers in the freezer and lots of will to open himself up after so long.

Sooner than Matt expected it, Danny’s order was ready and he walked his way to Matt’s apartment. Matt received him and the small introductory talk was successfully done before they uncapped the first round of beers and the real talking began.

“Thanks again for coming, seriously,” Matt said. He took a deep breath and shook his head. “I don’t even know where to start.”

Danny shrugged.

“From the beginning, I guess.”

“I don’t know what has me more shaken: Elektra revived as the Black Sky or Stick being dead.” Danny’s body tensed. “I don’t want you to think you have to tell me something smart or that will change things. I feel way better by just sharing how bad I’m doing.”

Danny smirked.

“You’re lucky I’m a good listener.”

And hell yes he was.

Matt tried to look back in time and actually start from the beginning. But he couldn’t find a place and time where things had started. There wasn’t a line drawn with signs of _Before_ and _After_ so he just started with Karen. She was a simple element on this crazy mix that had Matt messed up, so she also seemed to be a good start.

“Karen and I had something special going on. She was of the first few people I saved. She knew something was up; when I didn’t show up at the office, or when I did but I was hurt so I lied and said I had tripped over my feet in my own home… She never imagined it was this. When Elektra came in the way, it all went sideways, anyway…”

Matt continued to talk about her until he mentioned Foggy and the conversation took a new direction. As they ate pizza and drank beer, he started telling that story.

“Foggy and I have been friends for years. We took Fisk down and put him in jail, our firm became popular and then we decided to take a risky case, the Frank Castle case. I was too busy trying to stop The Hand. I was spending too much time in my red suit and not enough in the black one. Now Foggy doesn’t even talk to me. He took a job offer at a big firm. We dreamed of being that kind of big firm when we were in college…”

College. Matt couldn’t believe, looking back, how fucked up things were now compared to how they used to be then. It had been all easy. He was studying, going out with friends on the regular, he had a girlfriend that he loved deeply and the future looked bright as never before.

Matt took the last sip left of his fifth beer and checked for Danny’s attention status. He was still listening without a trace of boredom to Matt’s rant.

“In college, by the way, was when I met Elektra. We had this crazy love story. I let her in… I thought that maybe she wasn’t for me. We were different. She was too…” _Bad, evil_ , Matt thought. But he didn’t have the courage to talk about her like that. “I don’t know. So we broke up. Until a year ago, when she showed up again…”

And things spiraled out of control, to sum it up. As their finished their pizza, Matt mentioned all the things that had gone wrong since she showed up.

He told Danny all about the legal repercussion that had her intervention with the M.E. from the Castle case and how she, although had been trying to help, just ruined their last hope to win the case. Matt didn’t even care if the technical language was absurd in that conversation. He gave Danny all the details and Danny didn’t stop listening silently.

Matt also described the entire situation of Karen showing up and finding Elektra on his bed. That had looked too awful to even try to explain it. That time, Elektra was recovering after Stick had saved her life. Stick, whose throat she’d recently slashed. The whole thing sounded like a low-budget soap opera, but it was Matt’s life they were talking about.

“And now Stick, the man who turned me into what I am today as a vigilante, because God, my father was also so important in my life before he died…”

Matt couldn’t help but distract again. He remembered all the nights he patched his dad up and he told Danny about those many occasions that he had to fight back nausea to sew his father’s face, after drinking down some cheap spirit’s shot.

“Now’s Stick’s gone,” Matt said, finishing his father memories recount. “Because my ex—that really wasn’t my ex anymore—and that I still loved before she died, came back to life to be used as a puppet by some evil organization that you, Danny,” Matt directed his face up, “were raised to destroy.

“Does this even make sense?” Matt questioned, asking for feedback for the first time that night.

Danny sighed. Matt understood that he was tired. Anyone would be after listening to so much tragedy.

“Sometimes,” Danny said, taking a deep breath. “Sometimes we don’t understand what’s going on around us. It’s all confusing now. With Karen, Foggy. Elektra, Stick being gone… But I feel like you have to focus on what matters the most. Setting priorities. You know?”

Matt nodded.

Danny took a long sip of his beer (too long for Matt’s taste) and continued.

“Stick is gone and he’s not coming back. I know it's hard to accept it, but at least you don’t have to worry about him suffering anymore. Your friend, Foggy, he’s safe and healthy. He has a good job. So as much as it hurts that you’re not talking to him right now, maybe you just have to give him time. I’m sure he’ll miss you if you two were that close. And you can show him that he’s still important to you, as well.

“Karen, well… I don’t know about her. All I can offer is my collaboration to help you to find her. Since you’re worried about what she’s doing now and you doubt she’s staying out of trouble.”

Danny bit his lips and his voice lowered an octave.

“The best for the end: Elektra. Matt, she’s gone, too. The Black Sky is the one alive and you know that. Elektra died in your arms, so don’t let the image of her face or the sound of her voice mess with your head.”

Matt’s heart was thumping fast in his chest. It was like if someone had just reorganized his mindset within a couple of minutes.

“You’re great at this, Danny,” Matt said, smiling.

Danny returned the smile.

“Thank you.”

Danny took their empty bottles from the table and raised to his feet.

“Want the next round?”

“Yeap.”

Danny opened the fridge and took two more beers.

“I was wondering if you wanted to change the subject,” Danny said. “I have something to ask you, if you don’t mind me asking a personal question.” He handed the bottle to Matt and sat again next to him on the couch.

Matt almost laughed at Danny.

“What have the past hours been about?” He asked sarcastically.

Danny snorted.

“Right. So, I was wondering if you, uhm, have had interests in men before?”

“Don’t you have shame?” Matt asked offendedly. “I’m catholic!”

Danny’s blood coursed its way to his face.

“Oh, God—I didn’t even think—I’m sorry—”

Matt’s laughter came from his belly. Danny didn’t understand what was going on.

“I’m just kidding, Danny,” Matt said, in-between giggles.

Danny shook his head disapprovingly, but still cracking a smile.

“You’re the actual devil, man.”

Matt let the silence settle in after he giggled for a moment, then said: “Anyway, why were you asking?”

“Because I wanted to talk to someone, too. About that.”

Danny’s voice was serene, but differently than before. He was embarrassed with Matt about this.

“So you’ve liked men before,” Matt stated. Danny remained silence, neither affirming it or saying the opposite. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to actually judge you or anything.”

Danny sighed, Matt could tell that out of relief.

“That’s good to know. I don’t know; it’s complicated. In the monastery, there were no girls or even women to interact with. Being surrounded by just one gender all the time has an effect on people.” He shrugged. “Or at least, it had an effect on me.”

Matt nodded.

“I’ve liked men before,” he said. Danny looked up in surprise. “When I was in college and my mind opened to a lot of different people.”

“How was it?” Danny asked. Matt tilted his head to a side. “Everything. The whole relationship, the dynamic.”

“I never had a boyfriend or something similar,” Matt answered. “So I can’t really tell. All I did were one night stands. But I felt kind of guilty about it afterward, so I didn’t do it again.”

“Because of religion?”

Matt’s answer was quiet but firm.

“Yeah.”

“So you wouldn’t advise me to try that out? To see if I like it or not.”

“You’re free to make your own choices, Danny. People have to try things out to know if they like them or not. Especially if they feel curious about them.”

Danny nodded.

“I’ve applied the same logic before when I question my ‘curiosity’.” Danny gestured the quotation marks in the air. “But I guess for now it’ll have to wait. I’m with Colleen now and she’s… Awesome.”

Matt smiled and raised his beer.

“I’m glad for you. Cheers to that.”

Danny toasted, as well.

“Cheers.”

The subject changed again and the night ended shortly after when the beer stock was left empty. In any case, those beers had been thoroughly enjoyed.

*

During the course of the next week, Matt and Danny didn’t hang out again on their own. They limited themselves to the short recreational moments with Luke and Jessica also included. It's not like if they would've had time, even if they'd planned on going out. The only moment when they weren’t together was when, at night, they both seriously had to get some sleep before the next day of hard work to take down The Hand.

Matt was with Luke and Jessica at their improvised base of operations, also known in the underworld as Some Abandoned NY Warehouse.

“Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late,” Danny said, jogging his way into the place.

“Yeah, I bet you are,” Luke said, looking at him from head to toe.

“What?” Danny asked.

Jessica intervened.

“He just means that your girlfriend and you probably had a really nice morning today, that’s all.” She shrugged innocently.

Danny didn’t laugh.

“Yeah, well, if breaking up is considered nice.”

“You two broke up this morning?” Matt asked.

“Don’t want to talk about it,” Danny replied. He turned to Luke. “You said that Detective Knight had found out something of our interest?”

*

Matt sat in the confessional. His fingers were gripping his cane tightly and his heart was beating faster than normal.

“Hi, Father,” he said the second after Father Lantom got in his side of the cabin.

“It’s good to see you, Matthew. You’re still in one piece.”

“Today I didn’t come to talk about that,” Matt replied, although he appreciated the observation. “Something different is mortifying me this time.”

“What would that be?”

Matt breathed in long and slow.

“What do you think of homosexual relationships?”

“Are you asking me? Or are you asking God?”

“Both.”

“Matthew,” the Father said with condescendence. “Catholicism has changed and evolved through time. It’s been shaped to fit in modern societies.”

Matt consciously stopped gripping his cane and forced himself to relax.

“I know. But what shall I do if I’m not convinced? If I feel guilty for being attracted to other men?”

The Father was silent for a moment.

“What is guilt?” He finally asked Matt.

Matt also considered his answer.

“What allow us to differentiate from right and wrong. It’s what we feel when we do something that we know we shouldn’t do.”

“So according to you,” the Father construed, “you shouldn’t feel attracted to men.”

Matt corrected him right away.

“According to my beliefs.”

“Then change them, change your beliefs. Loving someone—or being attracted to someone, if that’s the case—it’s not something bad. You have to realize that our intentions are what define us. And if your intentions are good, then you have nothing to worry about, Matthew.”

Matt’s heartbeat slowed down and he felt himself relax authentically.

“Thank you, Father.”

*

_So I'll hit the lights and you lock the doors,_

_We ain't leaving this room 'til we both feel more._

 

Matt was laying on his bed with headphones on, Tina Turner’s raspy and powerful voice giving love to his ears. He deeply appreciated a good, well done, piece of art like music. Undoubtedly, Simply the Best was nothing but art.

He didn’t register something was different in his surroundings until a familiar faded out cologne scent made its way to his nose.

Without giving it much thought, Matt paused the music and took his headphones off. The song was replaced by Danny’s heartbeats, along with his heavy and slow steps walking to stand on the edge of the building’s rooftop.

Matt didn’t unsettle; he noticed Danny wasn’t in trouble nor physically hurt. Matt calmly went to the rooftop, following the signs of Danny’s presence until he was standing behind him only from a few feet away.

“Hey,” Matt said loud enough for Danny to hear, but not too loud to startle him.

“Hey.”

Matt walked to stand next to Danny. A lot of noise from the city meddled in, but Matt isolated it and focused on hearing just Danny.

“What are you doing here?” Matt asked.

Danny shrugged idly.

“I kind of wanted to talk about the breakup. Kind of, not entirely. I wasn’t sure, but I came anyway. Also, I might’ve forgotten you would know I was here.”

Matt grinned at that.

“Yeah, well, I can’t help but notice people.”

Danny didn’t reply. Matt didn’t feel the need to say anything; that one wasn’t an awkward silence. He just wanted to say something—let Danny know he was listening.

“So, do you want to talk about it? I can cook something for us,” Matt offered.

“I’m good, but thanks. We can talk here. I like the fresh air.”

“Alright. So you do want to talk about it.”

“I do. But at the same time, I just feel tired of thinking longer about it.”

Matt turned to Danny, instead of facing the city.

“Are you sad?”

Danny also turned to him before answering.

“No. But I wished it hadn’t happened like that. The Hand broke us apart. ” He sighed and looked down. “I mean, we shared so many things…”

Matt paid close attention to his heartbeats. He knew most of the time it was intrusive to do that, but he wanted to make sure Danny wasn’t sad. Which no, he wasn’t.

“I know the feeling,” Matt said. The whole mess his life had been since a few weeks ago drained him emotionally and he knew how exhausting it was to keep investing energies in toxic subjects.

“I, uhm, I went to church the other day,” he commented. “I talked to a Father. He said I didn’t have to feel guilt for liking other men. And I understood why he’s right.”

Danny gave him a small smile.

“Good. I’m glad.”

Ever since Matt and Danny were getting close, Matt was being drawn to him. That had been the only reason why he went to church to figure his conflict out. And that was why he just casually commented it, hoping Danny got the message: You won’t freak me out. I’m totally okay with this.

Matt considered that maybe, he was confusing things here. Maybe he’d been needing a friend so badly that after finding it in Danny, he mixed feelings up. Maybe, given how lonely he’d been lately, Matt was convincing himself that he wasn’t insane for feeling how he was feeling about Danny.

But the connection he felt with Danny—it was real. They were different but still shared their life principles. They didn’t have, by any chance, similar backgrounds, but by some miracle, they were standing at the same stage then.

It was real. Just as real as Danny’s heartbeats getting louder and faster after Matt announced his presence at the rooftop and just as real as Danny’s hands getting slightly sweaty when Matt mentioned that he’d gone to church. It couldn’t be coincidental.

Matt reached out for Danny’s hand and held it. Danny secured his grip around it and sighed.

They stayed silent and Matt could feel the tension growing in the air. They were both aware of what was going on between them, but weren’t brave enough to confront it yet.

Matt didn’t have to make the smallest effort to listen to Danny’s heart, which would break Danny’s ribcage anytime from there.

“You really don’t have to be nervous,” Matt told him, smiling.

“Am I that obvious?” Danny asked, out of breath.

“Your body speaks volumes about your feelings.”

Danny smirked.

“Yeah, that’s not actually comforting.”

Matt was amused by that. He didn’t let go of Danny’s hand to stand before him, arm-length away. Matt placed his hand over Danny’s chest, where his heart was thumping hard.

“Take it easy, Rand,” he bantered. “I can’t read minds yet. Besides, I’m flattered.”

Danny’s muscles unwinded as he laughed.

“Unbelievable. You’re a total boastful.”

Matt shook his head, chuckling. They fell silent again and Matt retired from Danny’s personal space.

“I’ll be in my apartment if you wanna talk,” Matt said, pointing to the staircase.

“Good. This was nice,” Danny answered, with such tranquility in his voice that Matt just craved more of it in his life.

“Take care,” Matt said, before finally returning to his apartment.

Once in it, he didn’t resume his music-listening. For him, Danny’s heartbeats also classified as highly valuable art.

*

_Don't walk away, don't roll your eyes,_

_They say love is pain, well darling, let's hurt tonight._

 

“Thank you for inviting me over,” Matt said, once Danny closed the door behind him.

“Of course,” Danny answered with a kind tone. “You’ve received me before at your home, so it’s the least I could do.”

Matt stepped inside the elegant apartment. It was modernly decorated and its atmosphere was light, in general. It was like a projection of Danny’s personality: simple, yet beautiful. Fancy, yet humble.

“Shab Tra’s almost ready,” Danny said, walking to his kitchen. “Hope you want to try something new and delicious.”

“I’m always up for trying those things,” Matt replied, taking his coat off and putting it on a coat hanger next to the door. He walked past the entryway.

The living room, kitchen and dining room integrated an open space, so from the kitchen, Danny talked to Matt while tossing carrots on the pan where meat and other vegetables had already been frying.

“Make yourself at home. Take a seat at the table or wherever you’d like.”

Matt sat on a high stool at the opposite side of the counter.

“I like it here,” Matt said, flashing a smile.

Danny grinned at him and continued to stir ingredients in the pan.

 

 

At the dining room, there was a tempered-glass, refined six seat table. But the occasion didn’t suit that table. The two of them rathered having their dinner at the kitchen counter, next to one another.

Danny had prepared Shab Tra, a dish he’d learned to cook in K’un Lun that they’d taken from Tibetan culture: extra soft goat meat, stir-fried with carrots, celery, green chili and asiatic species Matt didn’t know the name of that popped out the best of each element of the dish.

They accompanied it with Pinjopo, a rice wine that shaded the little burning aftertaste from some of the species. Danny was a terrific cook.

The conversation had started with the dish exposition, but quickly the subject changed to other interesting and funny matters.

“The other day I had this crazy dream,” Danny said, making a pause as he drank wine, “where Luke was fighting a giant robot. I’m watching too many Transformers movies, I guess.”

Matt beamed.

“Yeah, you must be.”

Danny took his next mouthful of the dish while keeping the conversation going.

“Do you dream?” He asked, full of inquisitiveness.

“Yeah, of course I dream,” Matt answered.

“How is it? Do you get to see again?”

Matt nodded.

“Yeah. It’s weird. I wasn’t born blind so the images I build in my head, basing on my other senses, of people that I know and the places that I frequent… take life,” he said without much emotion.

“That’s absolutely awesome—That you always know what’s going on around you,” Danny said. He finished savouring his last sip of wine before continuing. “How do you even do it? You’re like a freaking wizard.”

Matt smiled. He realized how often they smiled when they were around each other. It was contagious and wonderful.

“Well, smells tell a lot,” Matt said. “I can smell hormones, food, materials… Pretty much anything. I just have to be able to assign the scent to something. Shapes are mostly from hearing, if I can’t touch things. I can hear the the wind shaping out things. Like bats, mostly. Just that a lot better.”

Danny chuckled.

“That,” Matt kept explaining, “combined with my smell and things that actually can be heard, like even the smallest of sounds—a whisper, or a car starting in the distance, someone’s intestines twisting from hunger—that’s what makes me see better than if I had sight.”

Danny’s voice came out with a really amusing tone.

“What about taste?”

Matt shook his head as he replied.

“Taste is pretty useless most of the time.”

“Most of the time?” Danny asked.

“Unless when I eat, obviously. I get the full experience.”

Danny laughed.

“I bet,” he answered. Then, it was as if he suddenly realized he’d prepared dinner. “Does this Shab Tra pass your test?” He asked, sounding keen for Matt’s approval.

“It’s delicious, Danny,” Matt answered. He meant it. “The species and the green chili are phenomenal with the meat. Thank you.”

“Thank _you_ ,” Danny replied. “Your opinion is more valuable than the Evil Inspector’s from Ratatouille.”

Matt laughed and recognized it was a compliment, although he completely missed the reference.

“So what can you tell me?” Danny asked him. “About me, right now, basing on the things you can hear and feel and smell.”

“Well,” Matt said. He focused for a moment and then started giving away the information. “You had oatmeal this morning. You showered right before I got here. You splashed cologne in your clothes a long while before that, though. You probably didn’t want the smell to be too strong. That’s considerate, by the way. Last night you had popcorn—There’s salt all over the coffee table next to the couch. You’re impressed right now. Oh, and your bed is undone,” Matt added with a cocky smirk.

Danny shook his head, getting another mouthful of food.

“There’s an elf in your ear that whispers you stuff, I know.”

“You know what I can’t never tell?” Matt asked quietly, sipping wine. It was a really good wine, he must mention.

“What?” Danny asked.

“Colors. I can’t smell nor hear nor feel colors.”

“Right,” Danny asked. “Wait a sec, so how do you dress properly?”

Matt decided it was a very reliable fact that Danny was absolutely adorable.

“Sellers tell me the colors of the clothes,” Matt answered. “I could always notice if they lied, so I don’t worry. Then I learn to differentiate them for the fabric and other details I _can_ feel.”

“That makes sense,” Danny said.

They both ate the rest of their dinner, which wasn’t much by that point of their conversation. When they were done, Danny started clearing the table.

“Can I ask you something?” Matt asked him, while Danny walked to the opposite side of the counter.

“Sure,” Danny said.

“What color are your eyes?” Matt asked.

“You wanna know that?” Danny asked back.

“Yes,” Matt confidently answered. “And the color of your hair. If it’s not weird for you to describe yourself.”

“No, not at all,” Danny said with naturality. “It just didn’t occur to me that you’d ask about that.” He put dishes in the dishwasher and continued to answer Matt. “My eyes are blue. And my hair is blond...ish. Somewhere between light brown and blond, I guess.”

“Handsome,” Matt muttered, almost just to himself.

“Come again?”

“Nothing,” he said with a wide grin on his lips.

 

They had two glasses more of wine at the counter. It wasn’t too strong , but it still helped the mood to lighten with every passing second.

“By the way, how are things doing?” Danny asked. “You know, everything.”

Matt knew what he meant. He hadn’t updated Danny on how he’d been holding up since the time he vented to him all the things going terribly in his life.

“Better. I talked to Foggy—showed up at his work the other day. We’re good. Not like before, but I think we’ll be eventually. He said he’d been in touch with Karen and that she was doing okay.”

“I’m glad to know that,” Danny replied. “I told you things would get better.” Then, after a pause, he added smoothly, “There’s dessert in the fridge. Nothing Tibetan, just brownie.”

Matt nodded and sipped the last of drink in his glass.

“Are you a fan of baking?” He asked.

“I’m more of a fan of cooking, but baking is fun, too.” Danny left the empty glass on the counter and stood up, walking backwards to a clear space in the living room. “So, what do you say? A little training, then dessert?”

“What? Training on a date?” Matt asked, also getting up from his seat.

“Ooh, you used _the_ word,” Danny joked.

Matt shrugged. He wasn’t worried.

“We both know this is a date.”

Danny nodded.

“We indeed do. So, no fights in our _date_?” He insisted playfully. He stood put in the center of the area.

Matt shook his head, partly disapprovingly and partly because he hated to disappoint Danny’s expectations.

“I’m dressed too nicely, Danny,” he said. “And I can tell you are, too.”

Danny was wearing a dressing shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Matt guessed it was Armani. He had jeans to diminish how formal his shirt looked and a pair of rubber-sole shoes that Matt didn’t know understand how they worked so well with the rest of the outfit.

“Thanks,” Danny said. “You look great yourself.”

Matt felt glad that his classical navy blue Lacoste hadn’t let him down. He knew it had an impression on people because he _never_ wore chemises.

Matt walked to stand in front of Danny and turned his head down.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Matt bit his lip. He couldn’t deny the training offer was attractive. Perhaps too attractive to decline it.

So Matt threw the first hit, making it predictable and easy for Danny to stop. It’s purpose was to let Danny know he was in for the fight.

Danny responded the attack, with such passion that Matt’s only conclusion was that Danny deeply enjoyed that they were actually “training”.

Danny didn’t hold back on showing what he got and Matt was actually delighting in the new experience of an opponent like one he hadn’t fought before: no one he’d ever confronted had Danny’s handle over martial arts.

In fact, after a couple of failed attempts at knocking him down, Danny managed to surprise Matt and Matt fell on the ground, sighing heavily.

Danny offered Matt a hand and he took it, easily returning to stand on his feet with Danny’s help.

Danny didn’t let go of his hand; instead, he used it to pull Matt close to himself.

They were both slightly sweated from the combat and their clothes sticked to their bodies in a not-at-all romantic manner. But clocks stopped ticking and the only thing that mattered was how their breath barely filled the silence and how close their bodies were from the other’s.

Matt stopped his panting and slowed his breathing, fully facing Danny.

“You didn’t let me win, did you?” Danny asked.

“Nope. I was just distracted,” Matt answered without moving an inch further from Danny. If something, he discreetly stepped closer to him.

“Yeah?” Danny’s tone was mischievous. Matt loved it. “What could possibly distract a professional like you?”

Matt placed his hand behind Danny’s neck and curled his fingers around the soft fabric that Danny was dressed in that night.

“This,” Matt answered. He closed his eyes and leaned in, finally kissing Danny.

Danny’s breath itched. He pushed further in the kiss and grabbed Matt by his arm and back.

Matt felt Danny’s heartbeats on his own chest. Their bodies became warmer and it simply felt like that contact was equal to all the good and important things in life.

Matt couldn’t tell if anyone was leading the kiss. It flowed so easily it seemed like they’d practiced it lots of times before. Their mouths opened and closed in perfect synchrony, which Matt only thought happened in romance novels.

Matt wanted to bring Danny’s face closer to his—although it was impossible. Matt cupped Danny’s jaw, covered in that so precisely shaved beard and angled him to a side. Their tongues got in the way, just in the amount necessary for them to gasp and catch their breaths in for a moment.

They separated slowly and rested their foreheads together.

Matt felt happy. He never wanted that peaceful sensation to leave his body. He felt safe trusting Danny with his feelings. He was comfortable and relaxed. He could’ve been going for ages and not gotten tired of it.

“What if we call it a tie?” Matt asked.

Danny’s sweet snickering filled his ears.

“Deal.”

*

_Oh, I know you're feeling insane,_

_Tell me something that I can explain._

 

A joyful week and a half passed by.

They would meet the team, discuss their next movements, make progress in their mission and then Matt and Danny would end the night with a date of some sort.

Or, if the team couldn’t make its developments until night, each of them would spend the day at their other jobs—Matt tried to earn some money with legal assistances that didn’t consume much of his time and Danny kept trying to be an effective CEO—but tried to hang out at least once before they had to meet with Luke and Jessica for whichever (probably) dangerous mission they had to carry out at night.

That day was one of those times, and the mission had indeed been a dangerous one. Matt got beaten up by ninjas and his upper back, where leather wasn’t as thick as in the rest of the suit, had one nasty sword wound.

“No, seriously, guys,” Matt had insisted Luke and Jessica, “I’ll be better at my own home. Danny can take me. Don’t worry.”

And he hadn’t been lying. He would prefer ten times being patched up at his place than at their base of operations. He couldn’t complain: the warehouse’s conditions had improved since they first found it. Danny had paid for security systems and other elements and furniture for their comfort, but it wasn’t a place that Matt liked more than his own home yet.

It wasn’t because of Luke or Jessica either—Matt’s relationship with them had also unfolded. But maybe it was a matter of belonging. Matt loved and belonged to his place, no matter what anyone else said about its lack of coziness.

Which all led them to Matt’s couch, where Danny was sewing stitches on Matt’s cuts.

Matt took a shot of rum straight from a bottle so he could handle the burning from ethylic alcohol disinfecting his wounds. He shut his eyes tightly and stopped his body from arching in pain. It would only get worse if he moved and didn’t let Danny finish it as quick as possible.

“I’m sorry you have to do this,” Matt said with some difficulty. “I never liked fixing my dad up.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry,” Danny said, sounding all broken-hearted and sad. “I should use my powers and heal you.”

Matt’s voice made its way out of his chords more easily.

“This won’t be my first scar, Danny. I can take it. We have to save your energies for emergencies only.”

“Yeah, I know,” Danny answered, still unconvinced.

Danny kept suturing the, approximately, six inches cut. It went from Matt’s right shoulder blade to near his armpit.

“Are you good?” Danny asked once he was done.

“Me? I’m great. You have very gentle hands,” Matt said.

He evidently wasn’t _great_ , but he did appreciate that Danny had been as careful and delicate as he possibly could have.

“I’m glad,” Danny said. “Though, I’m gonna admit,” he added in a much lighter tone, resting his forehead on Matt’s healthy shoulder, “that this is not how I pictured that I’d get my hands on your back someday.”

Matt chuckled.

“Me neither, definitely.”

“Do you want to go to bed?” Danny asked him quietly.

“Yes. I’m really tired.”

Matt rose to his feet and walked to his room, still with his red leather pants on.

Danny followed him closely behind. Matt felt Danny’s eyes fixed on him and his movements, as if Matt would fall from his feet just from a beating and a cut. One that hurt like a son of a bitch, but his point still remained.

Matt sat on the edge of his bed and Danny stayed in front of him, on his feet.

“Don’t lay on your back, alright?” Danny said.

“Okay, doctor,” Matt said, smiling when Danny snorted in response. He took his pants off and spoke in Danny’s direction. “Are you gonna stay?”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

“I would like to.”

Matt smirked.

“Me too.”

Matt moved on his bed and laid on his stomach, facing the empty side of the mattress.

Danny took his shirt off and laid next to Matt, making the bed sink from his weight.

“I’m sorry for not taking care of you,” Matt said. “I know you’re hurt, too.”

Danny cupped his face.

“I’m just bruised, Matt. I’m fine. You know that, right?”

Matt gave him a sad smile.

“Yeah, but it’d be nice to take care of you anyway.”

Danny leaned forward and kissed Matt on the lips.

“I’ll be right here if you need me,” Danny whispered.

“So will I,” Matt replied before closing his eyes.

He never imagined someone’s breath could work both as a lullaby and a comforting alarm clock. Apparently, he’d have to sleep with Danny more often.

*

Matt poured himself a glass of water and served one for Danny, as well. He was still getting used to do everything around Danny’s place, instead of behaving like a regular guest and limiting himself to the living room and bathroom.

He walked back to the living room, where Danny was sitting on an armchair.

“We’re close to take them down, Danny. We _are_ ,” Matt comforted him, handing him the water. “They knew we were close—that’s why they took Colleen, to gain some leverage.”

Danny sighed and took a long sip of water. Matt dragged a loveseat near Danny’s chair and sat in front of him.

“Please, let’s not keep talking about it,” Danny said. “We have to wait ‘til tomorrow, anyway. If they are people of their word.”

“Gao is, I know her.”

Matt placed his hand on Danny’s knee and tried to send as many good vibes through it as he could.

Danny took Matt’s hand. He put the glass on a coffee table and Matt did the same, focusing on his fingers that were intertwining with Danny's.

“C’mon,” Danny said, low yet demanding.

“Where?” Matt asked.

“Right here,” Danny answered, palming his lap.

Matt felt his own heartbeat getting faster. He got up the loveseat and sat across Danny’s legs. Danny wrapped his arms around Matt’s torso and brought him closer to him.

“Danny,” Matt whispered. He tangled his fingers in Danny’s silky curls.

“I want you, Matt.” He let his hands go to the front of Matt’s body, leaving them over his pectorals. “Help me get my mind off everything else.”

“That’s the way you wanna deal with our problems?” Matt asked.

He would’ve preferred if it hadn’t come out in such a judgmental tone.

“Matthew,” Danny purred. Damn it, it’d sounded pretty needily.

“Daniel,” he answered.

“You want this, too, right?”

He was asking out of concern. Matt’s heart warmed up from the consideration.

“Of course,” Matt murmured.

“Good.”

He brought Matt in for a kiss. It wasn’t messy, but rough and wanton.

Their hands explored—more Matt’s than Danny’s, needing to learn how every inch of that body would look—their tongues tasted more than just lips, hunting their necks until t-shirts were in the way and had to be tossed aside, Matt’s fingers tracing the outline of Matt’s dragon on his chest.

Matt was considering changing his religion to _Danny_. The way Danny’s strong hands felt on his marked skin, the way Danny's mouth desired his body so badly.

And Matt just wanted to show Danny his love. Shit. He loved him. He embraced the thought of it, while also loving the taste of Danny’s sweat from his neck. Danny was committed to whatever Matt did to him, and Matt was more than willing to hand himself over to Danny in a silver platter.

“Bedroom?” Danny asked breathlessly.

Matt stopped sucking a hickey behind Danny’s ear to reply.

“Yeah,” Matt answered.

Behind closed doors, what happened could only be described as magic. If magic hadn’t helped Danny forget, nothing else would've done it.

*

_If this love is pain, then honey let's love tonight._

 

Colleen was safe and sound. Actually, everyone the four of them loved, was. They’d made sure that The Hand couldn't get near anything that they could use to manipulate their next moves.

The plan was set: Danny and Luke would go after Nobu, while Matt and Jessica went for Elektra.

That Nobu and Elektra weren't together meant that the team had a good chance to take them down.

“We all know what we’re going to do, right?” Luke asked.

Danny nodded and Matt and Jessica gave affirmative answers.

“Good,” Luke continued. “Then we’ll see again after we’ve put them in their contingency jails.”

They were about to part ways. In fact, Matt and Jessica had already turned to leave.

“Wait, Matt,” Danny said.

Matt turned. Danny’s heart was racing and his adrenaline was high.

Matt waited silently for what he had to say, although he had a good idea of what that was.

Matt himself was nervous, too. He knew they’d done that kind of thing before, but it still frightened him the thought of losing Danny or even that he got hurt, whether it was badly or not.

Matt knew Danny had been trained well and for nothing else but this. He trusted—and knew for a fact—that Danny was more than capable to defend himself and others around him.

But an instinct of protection (that could turn into overprotection at any time) grew in his chest the more his feelings for Danny did.

“Take care, please,” Danny finally said.

Matt nodded.

“You too, Danny.”

“Get a room, boys,” Jessica said faking annoyment. “I could cut the tension with my pocket scissors.”

Matt rolled his eyes. Which was a shame because with his mask on, she wasn’t able to see it.

Danny blushed and didn’t say anything else.

“Let’s get going, guys,” Luke said, restarting his walk in Matt’s opposite direction.

Matt heard Danny’s heartbeats getting louder.

“Love you,” Danny whispered, about twenty feet away from Matt already.

And from there on, all Matt could think about was that they needed to take down The Hand, so he could spend all the time he had left letting Danny know that he loved him, too.


End file.
